Fixing the Past
by Sandpiper01
Summary: A new, strange type of spirit is determined to stop Sam and Dean from closing the gates of Hell, and they're planning on doing this by changing Sam and Dean's history. But with Castiel's limited time travel power, the Winchesters have to turn to someone able to bring them back in time: The Doctor.
1. We Have A Problem

"So what do you know about the Winchesters?"

The Doctor spins in his place at the entrance of the TARDIS, eyebrows knitted in curiosity, sending a glare towards the console.

"What do _you_ know about the Winchesters?" he asks River. He begins taking slow, deliberate steps toward her.

She shrugs. "A little bit."

"When did you hear about them?" he questions casually, trying to hide his mild anxiety.

"Not too long ago," she answers as she takes her place next to him at the console.

He begins flipping switches, turning knobs, pulling strings. The TARDIS hummed to life, sending that too-familiar sound through his ears and a not-so-gentle rumbling under his feet.

"Oh, stop trying to hide it. I know it was you."

A smirk finally appears on his face to match hers as he pulls the last lever.

"And how much of that do you know?" He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

She sighs playfully and turns to rest her back on the console, her arms folded across her chest. "Just that a time traveler and some hunters managed to stop a catastrophe." She looks to him out of the corner of her eyes before continuing again: "But I would _love_ to hear some details."

"It's a long story," The Doctor warns.

"We have all the time in the universe for it."

He looks up to the ceiling, lips pursed, debating with himself. She deserves to know, and it isn't something that necessarily needed to be kept secret.

"Fine. I'll tell you. But you can't interrupt!"

A smile spreads across her face as he hops up to sit on the rails surrounding the console. He hunts through his mind to determine where to start and how to say it, and when he finally does, he lets out a huff of satisfaction.

"So, it all started-"

"Oh please, you can't start a story with that cliché," River teases.

"It's my story, I can start however I please, River Song," he plays along.

River gives a quick turn of her head to flip a curl from her face and grants him her full attention.

"Well then. It all started back when I was still travelling with Amy and Rory. It was well after we opened the Pandorica, but not too long before you and I married…"

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Rise and shine, Ponds! Come on, wake up."

Amy groaned as she sleepily flipped on her other side to face Rory, attempting to ignore the sound of The Doctor's fist against their door.

"I thought we would eat breakfast on Earth before we travel again. Who knows what effect an intergalactic diet can have on a human," he said through the closed – and locked – door. "Actually, I believe there have been some studies. But they were never tested on actual humans. Mostly the tests were only conducted on robots similar to humans. The tests were actually quite…"

As he continued to beat on the door speak about human-robot tests, Amy groaned again when she pressed closer to Rory, this time covering her ears. His heat and his gentle exhales that moved her bangs helped her to block out the early morning disturbance. Almost.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked Rory groggily when she felt the corners of his mouth turn against her cheek.

"You know he won't stop until we're up," he answered, placing a kiss on her forehead.

Amy finally opened her eyes, only to see Rory's shirt collar and the faint light that seeped through the cracks in their door. She rolled her eyes, knowing Rory was right. On a task as simple as waking the two of them, The Doctor would never give up.

"Alright, alright, we're up!" she yelled.

"Brilliant! Hurry and get dressed, I haven't had a London breakfast in years!" With a snap of her fingers, Amy turned on the lights in the room and pushed the covers off her and Rory, following The Doctor's orders.

After perfecting his last touch – a dark blue bowtie – The Doctor called to his friends, "I'm going to get us a seat; I'm betting the restaurant is busy on Saturday mornings. I've left some directions by the flux switch for you two."

"Got it!" he heard Amy's voice from her and Rory's room.

With a small smile and a key in his hands, The Doctor locked the door to the TARDIS – wouldn't want to leave his companions vulnerable to a curious human or a malicious alien. He clapped his hands together once and turned to head toward the restaurant. But as he took a step forward, a firm hand to his chest stopped him abruptly and caused him to nearly lose his balance.

"Wha- where did you come from?" The Doctor asked, perplexed as to how this dark-haired, trench coat-wearing man appeared for the short moment his back was turned. He rubbed his collar bone where he had collided with the palm of the man's hand.

"You can travel through time, correct?" Trench Coat Man asked.

"A bit blunt, are we?" The Doctor said.

"I'm sorry, but my friends need your help, but I lack the power they need. I believe you're the only one who can help them."

"Yes, very blunt," The Doctor murmured. He quickly looked the man up and down, attempting to determine his reason for coming to him. He seemed human enough, except something was a bit… off. His energy. There was far too much for a normal human being.

Then it was coming to him: the faint, sweet but tart smell, the slight change in temperature, and how the feeling of blood coursing through his own veins had suddenly become prominent all led to the presence of special kind of energy.

"You're an angel, aren't you," The Doctor stated.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"An angel?" River asks in disbelief.

"Ah-ah," he stops her, raising a finger. "You promised you wouldn't interrupt."

She purses her lips in defeat, and once again gives him her attention.

"Nothing like the angels we've dealt with." He gives a short laugh. "Far, far from it."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Yes, my name is Castiel; I'm an angel of the Lord," he answered, the familiar phrase leaving his lips easily.

"Well, Castiel. I haven't come in contact with your species in centuries. And, are you _sure_ it is a problem you can't solve on your own? I'm spending a bit of time with my friends, and –"

"We've come into contact with dolums," Castiel interrupted.

The Doctor stopped for a moment. "Dolums?"

The angel nodded once, slowly.

"Nasty creatures, those things. Somehow, they've found a way to communicate through time. Luckily they have no way to travel through it; that would be a catastrophe. But the only way to deal with them – from what I've discovered – is to take the pod from each of their times and lock them up where they cannot change the future. Now, they're hard to track. They aren't part of any dimension the TARDIS can recognize," The Doctor thought aloud.

"They're spirits," Castiel offered.

"Exactly. But if they find a way to materialize like other spirits have, they can wreak havoc."

"And we believe this is what they are doing."

The Doctor scratched his cheek in thought, ran a hand through his hair. What about Amy and Rory? He couldn't leave them here. But they _are_ in their own time – maybe he could.

But what fun would that be?

"Give me a moment to gather everything. Your friends are in the twenty-first century, I'm assuming," The Doctor says as he pulls his sonic screwdriver from his inside coat pocket, quickly scans the angel, and then flicks it open to read its data.

Castiel, however, takes a step back, unaware of the strange device The Doctor has just used on him.

"Don't worry – I'm just getting a signal the TARDIS can lock onto," The Doctor said after he noticed Castiel's hesitant step back. "I'll follow you."

With one last skeptical glance at The Doctor, Castiel disappeared with the sound of flapping wings.

"Who were you talking to?" came Rory's voice behind The Doctor.

"Oh. That was…" The Doctor hesitated shortly, "a change of plans!"

"You mean we're eating someplace else?" Amy asked.

"No, no. We'll get breakfast when we get there."

"Get where?" Rory asked.

The Doctor walked in between the two, returning back to the TARDIS. "I don't know yet. Come along, Ponds!"

The two looked at each other, shrugged, and turned to follow The Doctor back into the TARDIS. They never minded spontaneous adventures, anyways.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Cas!" Dean called to the spot Castiel had been standing a moment before. He realized his call would not be answered, and he sighed in defeat. "I hate it when he does that."

"He'll be back soon," Sam said, his eyes never leaving the newspaper or his breakfast.

"It would be nice if he didn't leave right in the middle of a conversation." Dean sat across from Sam at the table. "An important one at that. How do we know these things are trying to change our futures?"

Sam shrugs, looking up for the first time. "It's what Cas said."

Dean rests his head on his hand. "Since when was time travel possible?"

"After everything we've seen, is this really that surprising?"

"Yeah, actually," Dean admits. "So what do we know about these things?"

"They've been visiting a few of the places we investigated; Cas thinks they could be trying to change a few small details first."

"But they haven't."

"As far as we know."

Dean glared at Sam, angered by his negativity.

"Hey, I'm just saying what I think is happening."

Dean leans back in his chair, knowing his brother is right. "So, basically these things can undo all our work for the past eight years?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Sam says as his eyes drop back down to the paper.

"So why can't Cas just zap us back there? If we can find these things, we can kill 'em and there won't be anything to change what's happened."

"You know he hardly has the power to take us to a different time zone once. That nearly killed him last time."

Dean crossed his arms, pursed his lips. Damn, he hated it when Sam was right. But he knew it too. He knew there was no way Cas could do that.

He just hoped Cas could find someone that could.

* * *

_**Hope you liked it! If you did, a review would be so appreciated.**_

_**I'm planning on making this multi-chapter, obviously by the cliffhanger.**_


	2. Trust Issues

"I've found him."

Sam jolted at the unexpected voice behind him, but Dean just slowly looked up from his breakfast.

"Found who?" he asked, recovered from the small fright.

"The man who can travel through time," Cas answered. "He can bring you two back to find the Dolums and stop them before they change your past."

"I think they've already changed some people's," Sam said. He looked up to Cas and Dean with tired eyes, pointing to the article he found in the newspaper. "Three people are claiming they have two different memories of one event."

"That's what happens. Eventually they begin to believe their original, untainted memory is a dream because the memory the Dolums interfered with became reality," Cas explained.

"So how do we kill 'em? Salt gun, demon knife?" Dean asked as he turned away from the table, heading to the weapons.

"They're most closely related to demons."

Dean nodded and headed to the other room as Sam thought about these new spirits. Why hadn't they shown up earlier? Why now?

"Cas, why –"

He was cut off by a strange whooshing sound outside their bunker, his breathing halted to hear better.

_They're already here_, he thought, assuming that was the sound of the Dolums. Dammit, could these monsters ever give him a break?

He pulled his gun off the table with an angry growl, and called for Dean as he rushed toward the door. He halted a moment with his hand on the door knob, waiting for Dean to catch up.

"Ready?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded, getting a tighter grip around the knife. Sam mouthed, "One, two three," before pushing open the door and rushing through, gun raised.

Amy gave a short screech of surprise, moving halfway behind The Doctor.

"Now, that's quite the greeting," The Doctor said with a smile, unaffected by the Winchesters' hostile welcome.

"Uh, Cas?" Dean called over his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the three people in front of him. And a police box? That wasn't there last night.

"Ah, so I did get the coordinates right," The Doctor mused to himself.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam asked, gun still raised to the Doctor.

"I'm The Doctor," the time traveler replies. Then, pointing a thumb at the two behind him, "And these are the Ponds: Amy and Rory."

Feeling that his greeting had been sufficient, The Doctor began walking towards the doorway.

Guns were cocked, feet shuffled.

"Oi! You know, I _really_ hate guns," he asserted as he turned swiftly on his heels, staring Sam and Dean in the eyes.

Seeing as they had no intention of putting them down, he took one threatening step forward, Dean's gun now resting on his collarbone.

"Dean, put the gun down," ordered Castiel.

Dean's eyes flicked past The Doctor's shoulder. His gaze landed on Cas, whose expression matched his demanding tone.

With eyes locked on The Doctor's, Dean reluctantly dropped his arms, Sam following in suit. Everyone began to relax, even if it was only a little bit.

"So who is he?" Dean asked Cas, ignoring The Doctor's presence.

"He's here to help with the Dolums," Cas answered.

"You're the one who can travel through time," Sam deduced as he put together the facts.

"Uh – Doctor," Rory started. "Can I just ask what we're doing here?"

"Ah, yes! Well, apparently we're here to help with a Dolum problem. Although I'm not quite sure how to find them…" The Doctor trailed off, staring at a spot on the ground.

What had he just gotten himself into? Dolums – ugh. They're a pain, and he's only ever heard stories of them. One needs a hunter's knowledge, special devices, special skills. Surely he has enough skills to make up for those of a hunter; he _is_ The Doctor, after all.

"Well then, it can't be too difficult a task," The Doctor declared, head popping up and suddenly back to his confident self.

"You've dealt with these before?" Sam asked.

"No," The Doctor admitted. "But I've heard stories."

"That sounds promising," Dean mumbles, but The Doctor and his companions catch it.

Amy had heard enough. "Do you have any idea how many times The Doctor saved not only your lives, but the entire world?" she asked Dean, stepping in his path. "I think we can handle this."

He gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, we stopped the apocalypse. We can handle this too."

"Not without time travel," The Doctor added, a smug smile spread across his face and his arms crossed.

Dean gave a small nod to Sam, a silent command to talk to their surprise guests. He made his way over to Cas while Sam began properly greeting The Doctor, Rory, and Amy.

"How can we trust him, Cas?" Dean said in a hushed voice. "The dude's wearing a damn bowtie."

"He's saved the earth countless times," Cas explained. "He's worked with my brothers before; I've heard the stories."

"Yeah, and what if they're just stories?"

"I've heard numerous stories, but I know I haven't been lied to that many times."

Dean saw the truth in Cas's eyes, even the little bit of hurt he felt when Dean suggested the other angels had lied to him. With a sigh and an eye roll, Dean decided Cas was right. These Dorams, Dalooms – whatever they're called – were undoing Sam and Dean's past. That means every life they saved, every demon they sent back to hell and every monster to purgatory would be running above ground again. All the work they had done would be nothing.

"So where do we start?" Dean raises his voice.

The Doctor smiled, happy Dean finally came around.

"Where do you usually start on a hunt? We'll need to pinpoint the location and time of each Dolum."

"The stories – we'll go interview the people from the articles," Sam declared.

"Sounds like a good place to start," Rory offered.

"One was nearby, but another was across the country in Boston," Sam said. "It'll take us a few days to get there."

"Not a problem," The Doctor said, making his way back to the TARDIS. He snapped his fingers, the door to the blue box swinging open in response. He was halfway to the stairs leading to the console when he noticed only his footsteps were sounding throughout the room. He spun on his heels to see his new acquaintances staring at him from outside, and the Ponds' gaze transfixed on them.

"Well, come along," he pushed.

"What," Sam began, "is _that_?"

The Doctor just smiled, giving a small look to the Ponds before turning continuing his path to the console. Amy and Rory followed, understanding his "come along" glance.

Curiosity got the best of Sam, and he walked briskly into the TARDIS. His breath left him in one quick rush as his eyes grew wide. This was _not_ what he expected – a soft, orange room with several arches leading to different hallways, tall ceiling, and the strange contraption in the middle.

"Its…" He was at a loss for words. He felt like a kid again. The first time seeing the beach, or mountains, or a big city. But this was better than any childhood memory. "Whoa."

"Whoa."

Dean had finally made his way in with Cas not far behind him. He was almost as awe-stricken as Sam on the inside, but he kept himself contained. "It's bigger on the inside."

"I was waiting for someone to say that!" The Doctor exclaimed as he moved around the console, pulling levers, twisting knobs, pressing buttons. "Now-" One more dial. "Now, we can go."

He pulls the final lever, sending the TARDIS tumbling through the vortex, shaking the entire way. The Winchesters and Cas, surprised by the random trembling, grab onto the nearest objects.

"What the hell is that?" Dean asked, but found that the shaking had ended as soon as it began.

The first-time TARDIS passengers began pulling themselves from railings and walls, adrenaline high and breathing quick.

The Doctor gave a short laugh. "I decided to leave the stabilizers off – more fun that way."

"Fun?" Cas asked, looking a bit pale. "It would have been nice to a warning."

The Doctor walked past the stricken humans and angel, excited to see their expressions when he opens the doors.

"Did you forget something?" Sam asked The Doctor.

"No," The Doctor answered, confused as to why Sam was asking.

Amy ran up beside him, also excited to see the Winchesters' expressions.

As he turned the doorknob, Amy raised her arms as if she was a host on a game show revealing a prize. She couldn't keep a straight face, which only caused Rory to give a slight chuckle.

As The Doctor opened the door, the sounds of a hectic city flowed into the TARDIS.

* * *

_Not a very good place to end it, but I thought everyone deserved a faster update! I have finals for the rest of the week, so I wouldn't expect anything for maybe a week and a half._

_Thanks for reading so far! I'm only getting started (:_


	3. Freakout

"Well, here we are," the Doctor announced as he finished straightening his jacket and proceeded to walk through the TARDIS doors.

"That's – wh-" Sam stuttered over his own tongue. Quickly giving up, he stated simply: "That isn't the bunker."

The Doctor seemed miffed. "Of course it's not the bunker! I wouldn't just whisk all of you into the time vortex to put you right back where you started!"

"Time _what_?" Dean asked, taking a step forward.

The Doctor sighed, bringing the TARDIS doors closed behind him as he walked back towards his newest companions. "I suppose it's a lot to take in," he said, his voice much calmer.

"That would be an understatement," Cas told him.

"So, the time vortex…"

He explained to them the basics of time travel, the TARDIS, a couple experiences from far ends of the universe. He loved watching their eyes fill with wonder, curiosity, and maybe even a bit of jealousy from Sam. Castiel was impressed, but nowhere near to the extent of the Winchesters. The angel had been there since before the Earth was made, so – much like the Doctor – it took a great deal to impress him.

Yet here he sat, truly engrossed with The Doctor's explanations and storytelling.

"Now, who was that person you wanted to interview in Boston?" asked The Doctor, clapping his hands once as he stood up from his chair in the console room.

The three newcomers wiped at their eyes, mentally shook their heads. He had given them a bit too much information to absorb all at once.

"Uh, yeah," Sam started, pushing himself of the console railing. "Some guy named Steven Groves. He was in an asylum for a while. FBI agent, too, until he started going crazy."

"That's normally what you humans do – see something you can't explain so you throw whoever it is into a mental institution," The Doctor said. There were only a few things that got onto him about humans, at that was one of them. Their fear of anything too strange or new.

"Not everyone has seen everything the behind the scenes of the universe," Rory points out, a bit wounded from the Doctor's jab at his species.

"Yes, yes. I guess you're right," The Doctor sighs.

He turns on his heel to face the console, and he begins to press buttons and type away on the typewriter.

"There he is! Two blocks down, apartment on the fifth floor."

"Alright," Amy said, ready to start a new adventure. "Let's get a move on."

The brothers hesitated, sharing a glance between the two of them.

"Maybe it's best if you two and Cas stay behind," Dean says.

"What?" the three say in unison.

"It's just that – It's a bit overwhelming, and it wouldn't make much sense to bring everyone along. It would confuse him," Sam explains.

"Doctor," Amy pleads, giving her best puppy-eyes.

The Doctor purses his lips and unconsciously glances at the Winchesters. Perhaps they were right. It would be a bit troublesome to find aliases for three extra people, but oh – that face. He sees the little Amelia Pond waiting in her garden, let down once again.

But he's fallen for this before.

First River, now Amy, even Rory has found a way to get under his skin before. Something about those Ponds…

Maybe it's time to put his foot down.

"Maybe it's best this way," The Doctor finally says.

Gently. He tries his best to put his foot down _gently._

Amy's puppy façade falls in an instant, realizing her attempt had failed. She turns to Rory, her last backup plan.

He tilts his head, eyebrows raised as he shrugs one shoulder. A sign of defeat, a sign that he reluctantly agrees with the Doctor.

"Fine!" Amy says, crossing her arms in an almost childish manner

"Show Castiel around the TARDIS, maybe take him to the swimming pool!" The Doctor suggests.

"Wait, I'm not staying here," Cas says to Sam and Dean. "I've helped you for years, I know just as much on demons as you do."

"Cas, remember the last time you tried to interrogate someone?" Dean asked.

"He was terribly stubborn. I moved on to the cat – I was close to gaining valuable information."

"So maybe it's best if you hone some of those interrogation skills while we're gone and save them for another time," Sam said.

Cas held Sam's gaze for a moment longer before sighing. "So there's a pool in here?" he turned to the Ponds.

"Yes, there's a pool," Amy said, her tone dull. She turned to the Doctor, "We'll stay here. Don't worry about us."

The Doctor gave a small smile, showing his appreciation for his friend's cooperation. He would make it up to them later.

"We'll be back in no time," Sam said.

The Doctor took the lead by opening the TARDIS door, following the action with a deep breath to take in the Boston air.

"It's been decades since I've been to America," he stated, walking briskly in the direction of their destination. "That was in the future, though. It was surprisingly cleaner."

He dodged a piece of paper that blew past his foot.

"Don't get me wrong, Doc," Dean started, "but why are you here? I mean, Cas didn't just bat his eyelashes and you suddenly agreed to follow him wherever."

The Doctor smirked at Dean's sarcasm. He slowed a bit, seeing as the apartment was in view and he wanted time to explain. "I've only ever heard of Dolums, never seen one first-hand. And the angel: I've come into contact with his species only twice. And both times there was a good reason. I knew that if it was something an angel couldn't handle, it _must_ be big."

He stopped and turned to face Sam and Dean. "Curiosity got the best of me," he said with a slight shrug. "And here we are: apartment of Steven Groves, ex-FBI, the man who has encountered Dolums before me. Quite an accomplishment, considering how many times I've tried to find those creatures."

"And you had nothing better to do?" Dean asked, taking the lead as he walked up the front stairs to the apartment complex.

"We were planning on taking a break from traveling; the Ponds were getting somewhat homesick. I thought it would do them good to have a true English breakfast again."

"So you've really been to other planets with Amy and Rory?" Sam asked. He caught the door from Dean just before it closed.

"Other galaxies, other universes too."

Sam let out a huff of a laugh. Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. He was_ still_ skeptical of the man walking with him and Dean. But that police box took them all from Kansas to Boston in less than a minute.

He had no reason to be astonished.

He and Dean had both been to Heaven and Hell and everything in between. They'd killed monsters and demons the rest of the world hadn't even known about.

And he was surprised there was such a thing as time travel?

He was awakened from his daydream when he realized Dean had already knocked on the man's door. He and The Doctor rocked back on their heels at the same time – both impatient.

Sam heard the door's lock turn. Or _locks,_ several of them, not just one.

_A bit paranoid? _Sam thought.

When the door opened, none of them were ready for the reaction.

The man – Steven Groves, they each assumed – shouted curse words as he flustered around with the door before slamming it in their faces.

"Uh, what was _that_?" Dean asked.

"It seemed like he recognized one of us," The Doctor said.

He reached up and knocked again, resulting in a shout that was muffled by the closed door. Sam and Dean shared a glance around the Doctor, who was standing in between the two of them.

The door reopened, this time revealing a tall woman with brown hair pulled away from her face with a headband.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It hasn't been the best week."

"Actually, we're here to talk to you about that," The Doctor said. "I'm The Doctor-"

"Sorry, but we rescheduled our meeting until the weekend. Like I said before, it hasn't been the best time and-"

"Ray, it's _them!"_ came a voice from behind the woman. "_Please,_ just come back inside."

"It's fine, Steve," she said, her head turned slightly behind her.

She met their gaze again, this time pleading with her eyes.

"We can help with the double memory problem," Sam said.

The woman's eyes flicked to him, her eyes defensive and skeptical. And… hopeful?

"How." It came out more sounding more like a statement than a question.

"We just need to talk to him, find out exactly what's different about those memories," Dean explained.

She looked to each of them, debating with herself if she should let them in or not. The two on the end seemed normal enough, though the British man in the middle didn't seem to… fit in. He had a friendlier aura to him, his floppy hair and bowtie making him far more approachable.

"If you're the psychiatrist, then who are these two?"

"I'm-"

"We're students," Sam cut him off, knowing the Doctor was about to defy her calling him a psychiatrist. "This is similar to a residency. We're interns."

"Oh…kay," she said. A bit reluctantly, she stepped back and allowed the three of them to enter the apartment.

The Doctor and the Winchesters stood awkwardly as she closed the door again, re-locking each lock.

"I've never hallucinated before."

The Winchesters jumped at the voice that came from the man resting in a chair on the opposite side of the small room. He sat by the window with a novel resting in his lap. He looked up, his eyes perfectly calm, showing no remnant of his earlier fit.

"Honey, you're not hallucinating," the woman said as she made her way over to him. She sat on the arm of the plush leather chair, resting a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "Why do you think you're hallucinating?"

"Because the Winchesters were in my memory and my dream," he said, keeping his gaze on the window. "They lived in my dream, but they died in my memory."

* * *

_If anyone was wondering what SPN episode Steven Groves was from, it was episode 3x12 "Jus in Bello"._

_And as a question, __how do you feel about bringing River into the main plot?__ I know she's already in the background in the present, but I think it would be fun to include her into the main story the Doctor is telling her. Don't worry, I've already come up with a solid plan to bring her in. If it seems like people are against it, I'll leave it the way it is: with her as a bystander to the story – I already know the plan for that too. So this could go either way, I'm leaving it up to you! _


	4. Complications

_I'm **so** sorry for the wait - I find it annoying when i get really into a story and the author takes a while to update. But for some reason I just lost interest in the story for a while so I went almost all summer without writing anything. I started up again and it just kinda flowed from there. Anyway, thanks for putting up with me. I'll try to be better._

* * *

"_What?_" Dean asks, incredulous.

"Dean, can I talk to you for a second?" Sam pulled Dean by the elbow, forcing him around the corner and into the kitchen. Lost in thought – causing him to hesitate for a moment – the Doctor also turned to follow them.

Sam opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was at a loss for words. Surely it was the same guy, same name. A shapeshifter? No, they can't act human enough to save their own lives. No way in hell that guy is a shapeshifter. Too real.

"That guy died," Sam finally said.

The Doctor and Dean kept their gaze locked on Sam, thoughts sprinting behind their eyes.

"And you're _sure_?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Sam turned to Dean. "It was a couple years back; that night we held off the demons from inside the sheriff's office in Colorado."

Dean's face lit up with recognition, but fell when he also remembered what followed. "Everyone died in there 'cause Lilith followed us. There was a fire."

"Exactly, so why didn't he die?" Sam pointed a thumb behind him towards Groves.

Dean's eyebrows twitched up; he had an idea. "Why can't we just go back in time and see what happened?"

"You risk running straight into a paradox," the Doctor mumbled, his thoughts somewhere else.

"A what?" the Winchesters said in unison.

"Paradoxes, you know – contradictions." The Doctor looked to them, expecting some sort of knowledge on the subject. "Really, I never went over paradoxes?" He received only a small head shake from each brother in return. He gave a quick sigh. He really needed to be more thurough on time travel explanation. "Time travel is already a rip in reality. Cross your own path and change too much and things just won't…. _mesh_ right. You run the risk of destroying the universe."

"Right. So we won't change anything," said Dean.

"Ah-" The Doctor lifted a finger up in protest – could he really be willing to risk the universe to solve a simple _Dolum_ problem? – but stopped himself before he could really explain. Because he couldn't. "Of course. We could go back, see the Dolums and what they've changed, and make sure not to cross you own paths."

"So we'll just hop back in the box, find the Dolums and kill 'em, and everything goes back to normal," Dean said.

Sam began walking back into the living room. "I hope it's that easy."

"Wait – I –" The Doctor began to interject, but the brothers have already made their way to the main room. "_Why_ does no one listen to me?"

With the mood of a frustrated twelve-year-old, the Doctor followed the Winchesters anyway.

"Do you know anything about his double memories?" Sam asked the woman, whose name was revealed to be Rachael.

"Um," she racked her mind, suddenly put on the spot by the overwhelmingly tall men. "Basically what he said earlier, if you caught that. He said two brothers – apparently you two – died in his memory and… you're not students, are you?"

"No," Dean said, giving up on the façade quickly. "We're trying to get to the bottom of this."

Rachael shook her head, disbelief twisting her features. "He was fine before that night he escaped the fire. I think he may feel a bit guilty."

The Doctor spared a glance at the man reading by the window, huddled in his own world. His last fit had passed, and he seemed at ease, even with the Winchesters within shouting distance.

"How different was his memory from his dream?" The Doctor turned to Rachael. "Aside from the fate of these two."

She took a deep breath, eyes flicking towards her husband once. "I don't know that much more. You may want to ask him, but I'm not sure how he'll take it. He's touchy when it comes to that subject."

The Doctor wrung his hands together while Sam and Dean attempted to come to a conclusion on what knowledge the already had. After devising a plan and straightening his bow tie unconsciously, the Doctor strode over towards Steven and propped himself on the windowsill.

Steven looked up to the Doctor from behind thin reading glasses before going back to the words on the page. "I've never hallucinated before."

The Doctor assumed he took him for a therapist, a psychiatrist, a regular doctor. Good. That would make things easier.

"But why do you think you're hallucinating, Steven?" he asked, his accent strong in comparison to the northern American accent of the ex-FBI agent.

"They're dead," Steven stated. "I saw it with my own eyes. My friends confirmed it, too."

"Then how are they here?"

Steven sighed and closed his book, setting his glasses down on the arm of the plush chair. "You know, I've had plenty of people tell me I was crazy since this whole thing started. And I've denied it the entire time. But right now I'm starting to think they're right."

"You're not crazy," the Doctor told him, his voice stronger than before. "It's just that no one knows what's going on, and they're frightened or don't want to take the time to find out. But that's what we're here to do." The Doctor saw the look of compliance in the man's features, and took it as a chance to move on. "How different was your memory from your dream?"

Steven glanced out the window. "The dream I've had almost every night for the past couple months. I know almost every detail about it now, almost to the same extent as my memory. What would be important?"

"It may help to start with why you were terrified of us when we opened the door," Dean said, suddenly involved with the interrogation.

Steven looked to him, unappreciative of his sarcasm. "Sorry if I had just seen two people back from the dead." He took a deep breath and returned his glasses to his nose. "You two set the sheriff's office on fire that night."

The Doctor turned his attention to the Winchesters, who stared wide-eyed at Steven.

"We left right after we fought the demons," Dean started, suddenly out of his trance, "and watched the news from our motel room."

Steven shrugged. "Don't ask me how you were there."

"But what other details?" The Doctor asked, somewhat urgent as he quickly rose to his feet. He turned to Steven, standing right in front of him. "There _must_ be something else, something small that left you curious."

Steven's eyes were unfocused though directed at The Doctor. His eyebrows knitted in concentration as he went through memories and dreams, deciphering between the two. "Your clothes," he stated, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "You two came back after you left, but you changed your clothes."

"Okay," Sam said, resting his hands in his pockets as he shuffled around the living room. "The Dolums." He turned to The Doctor. "Can they shape shift?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted, a bit embarrassed that he didn't know.

"Do you know what these things look like?" asked Dean.

"Well…" The Doctor cocked his head, one hand outstretched as if to explain himself. But he never did. He had heard stories, read how non-time travelers had left notes for future beings. "Argh!" He was suddenly angry with himself, and slapped his forehead once in frustration. "So stupid. Each of those stories, all the books I've read and I never once paid attention to their appearance!"

"Hey, it's okay," Sam reassured. "We'll just go off of what we know."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, concluding that Sam was right. "Perhaps they can change their appearance. And we know when and where they were, at least this specific group of them."

"So let's find the damn things and kill 'em," Dean offered.

The Doctor hesitated, once again wringing his hands together. Sam wondered what any of them had done to make him act this way. But as quickly as this hesitation set in, it left the Doctor just as soon.

"We have some traveling to do," he said, doubling his announcement as a good-bye to the married couple.

"Wait, that's it?" Rachael asked.

"We can't do any more until we find out exactly what happened," Sam answered.

"So… will we ever see you again? At least to tell us if everything is resolved." She subconsciously brought her folded hands to her chest, an innocent look grasping her features.

"We'll be back –" the Doctor paused to look at his watch. "Give us an hour."

Rachael opened her mouth to say something else, but The Doctor turned on his heels and began his stride for the door. Sam and Dean gave them each a small smile before quickly finding their place beside The Doctor outside the apartment.

"So now what," Dean starts, "We go back to Colorado and stop these things from changing the past?"

"Exactly!" the Doctor exclaims, spinning on his heels as he walks to face Dean. "But, you may only interfere if you specifically remember seeing future versions of yourselves. Otherwise we'll have paradoxes and an entirely dysfunctional universe that I _do not _want to have to reboot."

They rounded the corner and made their way onto the street. Back to their TARDIS, and back to their friends waiting there.

Things are for more complicated than any of them imagined.

* * *

_Thanks for all your reviews! They really do mean a lot and I appreciate every one of them._

_So I've decided to bring River in. And to azebra117 and anyone else who was wondering: think about the "timey-wimey" of Doctor Who ;)_

_And I'm looking for some cover art! If anyone would be interested in doing one or could tell me where to find a screenshot or anything thats crossover-y, that would be greatly appreciated._


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